Hola!
So this is from the Pocket Pema Children chapter 2 entitled,
We Already Have Everything.
We already have everything we need.
There is no need for self-improvement.
All these trips that we lay on ourselves,
The heavy-duty fearing that we're bad and hoping that we're good,
The identities that we so dearly cling to,
The rage,
The jealousy,
And the addictions of all kinds,
Never touch our basic wealth.
They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun.
But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here.
This is who we really are.
We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.
Looking at ourselves this way is very different from our usual habit.
From this perspective we don't need to change.
You can feel as wretched as you like and you're still a good candidate for enlightenment.
You can feel like the world's most hopeless basket case,
But that feeling is your wealth,
Not something to be thrown out or improved upon.
And that concludes chapter 2.
Man,
I love Pema Children.
So we already have everything we need.
Wow,
Do you believe that?
Does that seem ridiculous to you?
Here's my take on this for what it's worth.
The bones are good.
My bones are good.
Well,
My chiropractor would beg to differ.
But the bones of my house are good.
I wake up each morning.
I've slept all night.
Okay,
Barely slept all night.
In a comfortable room,
Looking up at a rectangular skylight,
Imagining all the other people laying in their beds,
Looking up at the same sky.
I have the ability to be joyful or grumpy in the morning.
I almost always choose joy,
Especially once I've made coffee,
Because it feels so much better.
I make time to sit and meditate and offer love and compassion to all those I hold dear,
And even those who wish me ill will and don't understand me.
So in this way,
I'm using the good bones,
The good structure of my body,
Mind,
Household,
And intentions to be grateful,
To offer my good energy to others and to myself.
Oftentimes,
My meditations are simply breathing and then saying what I'm grateful for,
Not asking for anything,
Not fixing anything,
Just being aware of what's already here.
And as they say,
Like attracts like.
The more grateful I am,
The more I seem to have to be grateful for.
Have you noticed the same thing?
It works the same the other direction,
Of course.
Once you begin voicing out loud or in your head how awful everything is,
How the universe or whomever is against you or out to get you,
Or things don't go your way,
Don't you notice that it accumulates and you find more and more examples to support your theory?
So my question is,
Which way feels better?
What feels better?
You get to choose.
I also love that Pema says there is no need for self-improvement.
What?
As a Christian,
Then as a Buddhist,
And certainly as a counselor,
I have always been on the road to self-improvement.
How is it possible that I don't need to improve?
Has my whole life been a lie?
Pema says here that all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here.
So there's actually nothing to achieve,
Nothing really to improve.
I'm simply bringing my problem of the day to my innate warmth and brilliance,
And something will happen.
Or it won't happen.
Either way,
I'm okay.
Life could certainly go in a new direction based on my contemplations and my meditations,
But the underlying warmth and brilliance is the same before there was a problem,
In the midst of the problem,
And once the problem has been resolved.
The bones,
The basic structure is good.
We already have everything we need.
So if you are interested in a brief meditation on this theme,
Head over to Part 2 with the same name,
And I'll see you there.
